1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tilting device for a vehicular steering column, and more particularly, to a tilting device for a vehicular steering column that is capable of preventing a driver's knees from being injured and of adjusting the angle of the steering column by providing a sliding-type tilt lever on the upper side portion of the steering column.
2. Discussion of the Background
In general, a tilting device is so designed for a driver to tilt a steering column by adjusting the position of a steering wheel to accommodate a driver's figure for more comfortable driving.
Various shifting devices have been employed for the driver's safety and the transmission of the operating force to gears. Of these shifting devices, a steering column that transmits the operating force of a steering wheel to a steering gear is generally inclinedly mounted by about 20 to 30 degrees.
It is compulsory to mount a safety device, such as air bag system, in a vehicle in order to protect the driver from the impact to the steering wheel and steering column.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of illustrating a conventional tilting device including a tilt lever mounted at a lower part of the steering column according to a prior art.
The conventional tilting device includes a key-set 2 provided on a steering column 3 for transmitting the operating force from a steering wheel, an adjustment unit 4 for fastening or adjusting the tilting angle of the steering column 3, and a tilt lever 1 provided on the lower part of the steering column 3 for the hinge-connection between the steering column 3 and the adjustment unit 4.
In addition, a shroud (not shown) can be further provided to cover the outside of the steering column 3 to prevent the interference of unwanted materials from the outside. However, the tilt lever 1 is externally protruded from the shroud to be handled by the driver and furthermore positioned under the lower part of the steering column 3.
The steering column 3 configured as above, can adjust the height of the steering wheel according to the driver's figure. At this time, when the driver lifts up the tilt lever 1, the adjustment unit 4 that is hingedly connected to the tilt lever 1 cooperates with the tilt lever 1, so that the angle of the steering column can be adjusted.
In the conventional tilting device configured as above, however, the driver can be injured due to impact of his/her knees to the tilt lever 1 caused by an accident such as car collisions since the tilt lever 1 is externally protruded from the shroud and positioned under the lower part of the steering column 3 as set forth above.
A shock absorbing material, such as foam, is packed between the shroud and the steering column 3 to increase the driver's safety. Particularly, it is necessary to ensure space of more than at least 25 mm between the tilt lever 1 and the steering column 3 so that the entire parts of the steering column 3 can be protected with the aid of the shock absorbing material. However, in the conventional tilting device, the space between the tilt lever 1 and the steering column 3 is essentially narrow since the tilt lever 1 is configured to hingedly cooperate with the steering column 3 and thus the tilt lever 1 is fastened substantially near to the outer periphery of the steering column. As a result, this configuration and mechanism of the conventional art makes the gap between the tilt lever 1 and the steering column 3 narrow as shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, there is a difficulty in a process of inserting the shock absorbing material in the shroud, thus leading to the requirement of longer process time.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art that is already known to a person skilled in the art.